Cloth drying machine



CONAC WHH SULIDS.

Feb. 18, 1947.

W. H. SHIELDS CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 3, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet lFeb. 18, 1947. w, H, SHELDS 2,416,027

CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 3. 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 as g Feb. 18,1947. w. H. SHIELDS 2,416,027

CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 3, 194.3 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 18, 1947.W H, SHELDS 2,416,027

CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 3. 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Eil--- Feb. 18,1947. w, H, sHlELDs 2,416,027

CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. s, 194:5 6 sheets-sheet 5 Feb. 18, 1947.w. H. SHIELDS 2,416,027

CLOTH DRYI NG MACHINE Fi'led Feb. 3, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Feb.18, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTH DRYING MACHINE Wendell H.Shields, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Application February 3, 1943, Serial No. 474,571

1 Claim.

This invention relates to cloth drying machines. The machine of thisinvention is adapted to be used after a length of cloth has been dyed,washed and shrunk. rI'he cloth is passed through the machine where it isdried and then emerges on the other side where it is placed upon rollersfor subsequent use.

Briefly the invention resides in several novel features of the cabinetwherein there is located two groups of rollers. The one group receivesthe cloth into the cabinet where the cloth travels over each of therollers in that group. An intermediate roller is located between the twogroups over which the cloth passes on its way to the second group whereit passes over each roller and then out of the cabinet on to the finalroller. In some cases the cloth, as it is being dried, may tend toeither stretch slightly or may even shrink a little more, but it isnecessary at all times to have the tension of the cloth substantiallyconstant to prevent any tearing or ripping thereof. I have providednovel compensating or synchronizing means so that when such action inthe cloth takes place the speed of the second group of rollers may bevaried slightly by moving faster if the cloth has stretched or slower ifthe cloth has shrunk, thus insuring a substantially constant tension onthe cloth at all times.

Another novel feature of the device is the provision below the bottom ofthe machine of a false bottom which is divided into chambers one ofwhich is utilized to pass hot air into the cabinet and over the cloth,and the other of which is utilized to withdraw the air from the cabinetafter it has removed the moisture from the cloth.

I have also provided means to increase the eiliciency of the airentering the cabinet by forcing it into the area where the cloth ispresent and by confining the air to this area before it is removedtherefrom.

Other more specific objects and purposes of the invention will appearmore fully as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends said invention,then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims. The annexed drawing and following descriptionset forth in detail 2 certain means for carrying out my invention, saidmeans constituting, however, but one of various ways in which theprinciple of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeparts throughout the various views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the drying cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the cabinet looking inthe same direction as Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation simi1ar`to Fig. 1 with parts broken away toshow certain details 0f construction.

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section through the cabinet.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the cabinet.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the false bottom showing the variouschambers therein and the air conduits leading thereto.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary .longitudinal section through one of therollers.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation showing part of the compensatingor synchronizing means.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary end elevation similar to Fig. 8 looking towardthe left thereof.

Fig. 10 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary top plan view of themechanism shown in Fig 9, and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the clutchdisclosed as a means for synchronizing the speed of rotation of thesecond group of rollers with the speed of the first group.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the cabinet is made upof a structure having sides l and 2, ends 3 and 4, a top 5 and a bottom6. Between the sides I and 2 extend a plurality of rollers which aredivided into two groups and, as seen in Fig. 1, I have indicatedgenerally the group at the left of the center of the cabinet by A andthe other group by the letter B. Besides utilizing all of the rollersfor passing the cloth thereover, certain of the rollers have differentfunctions and for this reason some of the rollers of group A have beendesignated by the numeral 1, one is denoted by the numeral 8 and theothers of this group by the numeral 9. In like manner, in group B,certain of the rollers are denoted by the numeral I0, one is indicatedat I I and the others by the numeral I2. While it is to be understoodthat these specific rollers need not be utilized for the same functionsas herein described, this distinction is made to indicate, for example,that all of those rollers indicated by the numeral 1 have a commonfunction; all of those indicated by the numeral 9 also have a commonfunction different from the others and the one indicated at 8 has astill different function. The same holds true with the various rollersin group B.

At one end of the machine an arm I3 extends outwardly from which extendsthe bracket I4. A shaft I5 is mounted on the bracket and has a splitpulley I6 thereon. Also on the shaft is a roller I1 and above which ateach side thereof are the rollers I8. Adjacent the cabinet and securedto the arm I3 is a bracket I9 which has a shaft 20 thereon on which islocated the pulley 2| and another roller 28a which cannot be seenviewing Fig. 1. In the opposite end 3 of the cabinet another bracket 22is secured which supports the roller 23. The cloth itself, indicated at24 may come from a vat (not shown) where it has been washed and shrunk,from whence it passes upwardly over the rst roller I 8, under the rollerI1 and up over the second roller I8, from whence it drapes and passesupwardly over the roller 20a on the shaft 20. From this roller the clothpasses through an opening in the end 4 and over the larger rollers inthe manner shown in Fig. 2 and emerges through an opening in the end 3from whence it passes on to other rollers (not shown) where it may beshipped or stored for subsequent use.

The cabinet itself is provided beneath its bottom 6 with a false bottomgenerally indicated at 25 in Fig. 6. This bottom is divided into anupper chamber 26 and a lower chamber 21. The sides 28 of the lowerchamber and the sides 29 of the upper chamber terminate in the samehorizontal plane and abut against the bottom S of the cabinet, but thesides 29 of the upper chamber are approximately half the depth of thesides 28 of the lower chamber thus dividing the false bottom into itsupper and lower components.

The sides of both chambers are of such configuration as to provideopenings for ilues so that air may be conducted to or away from thecabinet. For example, at the rear of the false bottom the sides 29 ofthe upper chamber form the portions 30 and at the front side similarportions 3| are provided. The bottom chamber provides at the rear sidethereof the two portions 32. The bottom 6 of the cabinet does not coverthese portions 3|). 3| and 32 but they are left open so that the uesdesignated respectively in Fig. 5 by the numerals 30a, 3| a and 32a willbe located over the respective portions 38, 3| and 32.

Under the false bottom 25 is located the conduit 33 which extendsupwardly through the lower chamber and opens into the upper chamber toform the opening 34. At the lower end of the conduit it is provided witha fan 35 driven by the motor 36 and within the conduit the heatingelement 31 is positioned so that the air sucked in by the fan 35 will beheated as it passes over the heating element 31 and will be passedupwardly through the opening 34 into the upper chamber.

Adjacent the conduit 33 is a second conduit 38 which extends upwardlyonly to the lower chamber and has an opening 39 into the bottom of saidlower chamber. A fan is also provided in the lower end of this conduitfor the purpose lof drawing out the air from the cabinet.

In the bottom 6 of the cabinet substantially in the center thereof is anopening 40 immediately above the opening 34 leading from the conduit 33to the upper chamber of the false bottom. Also, at each end of thebottom 6 a plurality of openings 4| are located as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 6. When the hot air is forced upwardly through the conduit 33some of it passes upwardly into the cabinet through the opening 40 andthe remainder of it is dispersed throughout the upper chamber and passesoutwardly through the flues 30a and 3Ia. The openings 4| aid in removingthe moisture-laden air from the cabinet as will appear more fullyhereinafter.

Throughout the length of each of the conduits 38a and 3 Ia there areconnected thereto in spaced apart relation and extending substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom a plurality of tubes 42 which connect withcorresponding openings in said flues and extend inwardly for a distancethrough the ends of the various rollers. Also, throughout the length ofthe flues 32a there are secured in spaced apart relation similar tubes43 connecting with corresponding openings in said flues. Each of therollers 1 to I2 inclusive is provided with a greater number of openings44 through its surface as clearly shown in Fig. '1.

Additional conduits 45 are located at the top of the cabinet wherein thefans 46 are located for the purpose of blowing air over the heatingelements 41 through the conduits 45 and through corresponding openings48 in the top 5 of the cabinet. At each end of the cabinet otherconduits 49 are located also for the purpose of forcing heated airthrough openings in said ends and into the cabinet.` Thus we have airwhich has been heated being forced into the cabinet first by means ofthe conduit 33 which forces some of its air through the opening 40 inthe bottom of the cabinet and the remainder thereof upwardly through theflues 30a and 3|a, which air then passes through the respective tubes 42into the interior of the rollers 1, 8, I0 and II, and thence outwardlythrough the openings 44 in such rollers and through the cloth 24 whichis passing therearound. The additional air being forced through theconduits 45 and 49 passes directly into the cabinet and contacts thecloth on its outer surface rather than the inner surface thereof asabove described with respect to the air being forced through the conduit33.

The sucking action of the fan in the conduit 38 then draws all the airin the cabinet through, the rollers 9 and I2 and the tubes 43 whichpasses out through the ues 32a and downwardly into the lower chamber ofthe false bottom and through the conduit 38. The rest of the used air inthe chamber, by means of this Sarre suction, is also passed downwardlythrough the openings 4| at each end of the bottom 6 of the cabinet. Allof this air then passes downwardly through the opening 39 and into theconduit 38.

One of the novel means which I have provided for maintaining the airwithin a restricted area is the provision of the plates 50 located ateach side of the machine and covering each group of rollers as shown inFigs. 2, 4 and 5. Each roller extends through openings in these platesso that they may be moved toward or away from each other longitudinallyof the rollers depending upon lh v s the width of the cloth passing overthem. In the upper part of the cabinet is located an elongated rod 5|for each opposed pair of plates 50 reversely threaded at each endthereof as at 52. This rod extends throughout the width of the cabinetand is rotatably mounted in bearings 53 at each side thereof. One end ofeach rod extends beyond the side of the cabinet and is provided at itsouter end with a hand wheel 54. The upper ends of the plates 50 are eachprovided with bosses 55 with which the threaded portions of the rod 5|engage, and since these portions are threaded in opposite directions, aturning of the handle 54 will adjust the plates 58 equal distances fromthe center of the rollers. It is to be noted that the various tubes 42and 43 extend inwardly at least to the plane of these plates 50 so thatair being forced therethrough will emerge from the rollers to an areabetween the plates 50, such plates confining the air to the areatherebetween.

As heretofore mentioned, the roller 8 is constructed somewhatdifferently at one end thereof than the other rollers and this isbecause it acts as the connection between the motor to drive the rest ofthe rollers. Fig. '7 is a section through the roller 8 and while theright hand end thereof shows a construction typical of all of therollers, the left hand end shows the specific construction of thedriving roller. It is to be noted that a ring 56 is located within theleft end of the roller 8 and is secured thereto by means of the screws51. At the inner side of said ring there is either secured thereto orformed integral therewith a spider 58 which has an enlarged centralportion 59 to which is secured the shaft 60, which shaft extendsoutwardly through the side I of the cabinet and completely through theflue 3|a. The ring 56 also has extending forwardly therefroma'cylindrical portion 6| which terminates in an outwardly flangedportion 62, which has a plurality of teeth therearound providing a cogengaging with the chain 63.

Around the tube 42a which extends from the flue through the end of theroller is located a ring 64 which is spaced apart from the side I bymeans of the spacing members 65 and is secured to said side member bymeans of the bolts 66. There is a plurality of these spacing members 65spaced apart around the ring 64 and at the opposite side of said ring islocated the member 61 which has extending therefrom a short shaft onwhich is located the roller 68. There are a number of these rollers 68which bear against the cylindrical portion 6| of the ring 56 and provideroller bearing surfaces for the rotation of the rollers. At the oppositeend of the roller an identical construction is present with theexception that the ring 56a terminates in its cylindrical portion 6|aand does not have the cog thereon as at the opposite side of themachine. Each roller at its end adjacent the side I of the cabinet isformed exactly as shown in Fig. 7 and as just explained with theexception that the roller 8 is provided with the spider 58 so that whendriving means rotates the shaft 60 it imparts a rotative movement to theroller 8. In this particular case the tube 42a is shorter than the othertubes 42 and 43 because of the presence of the spider 58. The chain 63,as shown in Fig. 3, passes around each of the cogs 62 on each of therollers 1, 8 and 9. Located between substantially every two rollers asshown in Fig. 3 are the smaller cogs 69 mounted on stub shafts to keepthe chain taut and to insure proper direction of rotation of each of therollers. The same construction just described also holds true with therollers I0, I I and I2 constituting group B, since they are alsoprovided at their outer ends with the cogs 62, the chain 63 and thesmaller cogs B9. The roller Il, however, has additional mechanism at itsouter end the purpose of which will be described presently.

Adjacent the cabinet and at its lower end there is located a motor 1Dwhich is provided with a pulley 1| driving a smaller pulley 12 on theshaft 13. Gear reducing means 14 is located adjacent the motor and has ashaft 15 thereon which has a cog secured thereto around which passes thechain 16. A bracket 11 is secured to the cabinet and has located thereonthe stub shaft 18 (Fig. 5) adjacent the shaft 60. Referring now moreparticularly to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the shaft 60 hasnear its outer end a gear 19 which meshes with a gear on the stub shaft18. Also on the shaft 60 and spaced from the gear 19 is a cog over whichthe chain 16 passes. Adjacent the chain 16 is a larger cog 8| which hasa chain 82 therearound passing over a smaller cog 83 on a shaft 84. Onthis same shaft is another cog around which passes the chain 85 andconnects to another cog thereabove on the shaft 86. On this same shaftis located the pulley 81 which connects by means of the belt 88 to thepulley I6 so that the driving means through the chains 16, 82 and 85 andthe belt 88 will drive the rollers I1 and I8 over which the cloth 24first passes and feeds it into the cabinet. Also, the driving meansthrough the chain 16 rotates the shaft 60 which in turn moves the spider58 and the roller 8- which, being connected to the other rollers in thisgroup through the chain 63, will cause a continuous rotation of thisgroup in the direction as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3.

Located intermediate between the two groups of rollers A and B isanother roller 89, somewhat smaller in diameter, which is mounted on theshaft 9D extending between the sides I and 2 of the cabinet. Thisstructure is clearly shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 and will be describedwith reference to one end only of the roller but it is to be understoodthat both ends and incidental mechanism is constructed identical. Ateach extreme outer end of the shaft 90 is secured a pinion 9| whichmeshes with a rack 92 located vertically and extending from the top tothe bottom of the cabinet. Also extending vertically adjacent each endof the roller 89 is a rod 93 which is secured to the top and bottom ofthe cabinet. Loosely mounted on the shaft 90 adjacent the pinion 9| is acollar 94 which has integral therewith a solid portion 95 extendingoutwardly therefrom and having an opening therethrough to receive therod 93. This structure aids in maintaining a meshing engagement betweenthe pinion and rack as well as guiding the roller when it is to be movedin a vertical direction.

Between the pinion 9| and the collar 94 is another collar 95 alsoloosely mounted on the shaft 90 and which has arms 96 extending upwardlyand downwardly at diametrically opposite points to which the ends of thesprocket chain 91 are secured. At the top and bottom of the cabinet andat each side thereof the brackets 98 are secured having a bearingportion 99 to receive the upper and lower shafts |00 which extendsubstantially the width of the cabinet. Each end of each shaft |00 isprovided with a sprocket wheel or cog I0| around which the chain 91passes as shown in Fig. 8. On the side of the chain opposite the rollerthere is hung a plurality of weights |02 which may be adjusted to givethe proper tension to the cloth 24 passing over the roller 89 since, aweight on one side of the chain 97 will tend to move the roller in anupward direction, but its movement upwardly is limited because of thecloth passing thereover in a manner as clearly shown in Fig. 2.Therefore, the tension on the cloth at this point may be regulated bythe number of weights |02 which are present.

At one end of the upper shaft |00, which shaft extends outwardly beyondthe side of the cabinet, there is secured a lever arm |03 which in turnhas pivotally secured to its outer end a link |04 to which is pivotallyfastened at its opposite end another arm |05. Reference will now be hadspecifically to Fig. 11 which discloses the specific clutch mechanism Ihave designed to regulate the relative speed between the group ofrollers B and the group A-to maintain constant the tension in the clothas it passes through the cabinet. While it is to be understood that themechanism I have shown here is merely illustrative, any other desiredmeans may be used to accomplish the desired purpose. This mechanism actsin conjunction with the roller I I in group B which has centrallylocated thereof a shaft |06 extending inwardly for a distance within theroller and has a construction similar to that shown in Fig. 7 anddescribed with reference to roller No. 8 having a spider at the innerend thereof connected to the roller so that a rotation of the shaft |06will impart a rotative movement to the roller II. This shaft thenextends outwardly through the flue 3|a and through the bracket |01 whichis secured to the side I of the cabinet and its outer horizontal side isprovided with a longitudinally extending rib |00. A collar |09 issecured to the shaft immediately behind the bracket |01 and between itand the outer side of the flue 3 Ia. The face of the bracket is thenprovided with a boss I which has an inclined face thereon as shown.

Adjacent the boss I0 the lower end of the arm is located through whichthe shaft |06 freely passes and which also has an inclined face thereoncomplementary to that on lthe boss I|0 so that any rotative movement ofthe arm |05 will cause its lower end to be moved longitudinally of theshaft |06.

At the outer end of the shaft |06 is secured a collar adjacent which ismounted a sprocket wheel II2 to which is secured the clutch plate ||3.Said clutch plate at spaced apart points around its periphery isprovided with a plurality of arms ||4 to which is pivotally secured atthe outer ends thereof the fingers I|5 substantially of theconfiguration shown in Fig. 11, the outer end of which is roundedoutwardly in one direction as at I6 and adjacent the inner end of whichis located the shoulder II'I. Keyed to the shaft but movablelongitudinally thereof is the other clutch plate I|8 and adjacent thehub of this plate and mounted on the shaft I06is a disk IIS which bearsagainst the ends ||6 of the ngers ||5. The shoulder portions |I1 ofthese fingers are adapted to bear against a side of the clutch plate I|8 to force it against the other plate |I3 with various degrees of forceto regulate the speed of rotation of the roller If desired, frictionreducing means may be located on these shoulders bearing against theplate II3.

The sprocket wheel I |2 together with the clutch plate I I3 and the diskI I9 all are mounted loosely on the shaft but the clutch plate I|8 iskeyed thereto and is rotatable therewith. A sprocket chain 20 passesaround the wheel I2 and around a second sprocket wheel on the bracket|2| (Fig. 1) On the previously described bracket 11 which supports theshaft 18, and on said shaft there is located another sprocket wheel |22around which passes the chain |23 and around another sprocket wheel |24on the bracket I2 I. The shaft 18, being rotated by the motor throughthe chain 16 and the gears 19 and B0, will cause a corresponding 10rotation of the sprocket wheel |24 and the wheel I|2 thereby causing acontinuous rotation of the clutch plate ||3. Any rotation of the arm |05which causes the clutch plate I I8 to bear with greater force againstthe clutch plate ||3 will tend to prevent slippage therebetween therebyrotating the shaft |06 at a rate of speed substantially equal to thespeed of rotation of the shaft 60 which drives all of the rollers ingroup A.

The wheel I I2 should be slightly smaller than the wheel at the oppositeend of the chain so that when the machine is first started there will bejust enough slippage between the two clutch plates to drive the twogroups of rollers at the same speed. If, then, the cloth in its travelthrough the cabinet should become stretched, the weights |02 will tendto return the cloth to its original tension by moving the roller 89upwardly. When this occurs the shaft |00 will rotate slightly in acounter-clockwise direction thereby imparting a clockwise rotation tothe arm |05 through the linkage |04. This movement of the arm |05,through the camming action of its face against the face of the boss |I0,will move the clutch plate |I8 back against the plate |I3 with greaterforce thereby speeding up the rotation of the shaft |06 and all of therollers in group B which will result in a taking up of the slack in thecloth and returning the roller 89 to its original position which then inturn results in a reversal of the above described process to slow downthe speed of the rollers in group B. Conversely, if the cloth shrinksslightly, a greater pressure will be exerted on the roller 89 causing itto be lowered and thereby causing the rollers in group B to rotate at aslower rate of speed until the original desired tension in the cloth isagain maintained. The side of the cabinet is provided with a door |25 sothat the cabinet may be entered either for repairs or for regulating thecloth and starting the machine.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that I have devisedseveral novel features to be employed in a cloth drying machine, whichfeatures have proven to be both successful and economical in operation.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be usedinstead of the one here described, change being made as regards the 50mechanism herein disclosed provided, however, that the means stated bythe following claim or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I claim:

A cloth drying machine comprising a cabinet,

two groups of perforated rollers in said cabinet, means to forceconditioned air into the rollers of one group and out through theperforations thereof into said cabinet, means for drawing the air out ofsaid cabinet through the perforated rollers of the other group, means tofeed cloth continuously and alternately around rollers of each of saidgroups, plates at each side of said cabinet to confine said airtherebetween, openings in said plates through which the ends of Asaidrollers pass, means to move said plates toward or 2,416,027 9 away fromeach other and supply ducts extend- Number ing into said rollers beyondthe planes of said 2,168,456 plat-es. 1,543,368 WENDELL H. SHIELDS.543,578 v 5 1,594,394 REFERENCES CITED 2,219,857 The followingreferences are of record in the 1,767,605 i-lle of this patent: UNITEDSTATES PATENTS lo 212521181 Number Name Date 2,054,391

2,283,699 Richardson May 19, 1942 2,301,249 Butterworth, Jr. et al. Nov.10, 1942 2,286,595 B1eib1er June 16, 1942 Number 1,601,332 Whitehead etal. Sept. 28, 1926 15 647.772

SearchRoom Name Date Stiener Aug. 8, 1939 Carrier June 23, 1925 Hartley,Jr. July 30, 1895 Weston Aug. 3, 1926 Weston Oct. 29. 1940 MortensenJune 24, 1930 Hebley et al Jan. 14, 1936 Snoeck Jan. 23, 1883 Hunter etal Aug. 12, 1941 Schmidt Sept. 15, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Country DateGerman July 12, 1937

